PERIOD FROM JULIUS CAESAR TO AUGUSTUS

This coin was struck by Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, son of the consul of the same name who died during the civil wars. He had entered the College of Augurs in 57 BC as an adopted member of the gens Manlia, since the Cornelii were already represented in this College and only one member from each gens could be admitted. This is why the coin features the augural symbols. A supporter of Pompey and a friend of Cicero, he later aligned himself with Caesar’s assassins and was sent by the Senate as proquaestor to the province of Asia to fight against the Caesarians. He was in Smyrna with Brutus and Cassius, striking coinage on their behalf to fund their campaign against the forces of Mark Antony and Caesar Octavian. Brutus’s name also appears on the coin, along with the symbols of the pontifex, as the Imperator was a member of that priestly college.